Free German lessons

In this lesson you'll learn some basic introductions, and Jens will take you home to meet his family. You'll learn how to say "I am", "you are", "he is" etc, using the verb sein ("to be"). You'll also learn the difference between formal and informal address (so you can get on Oma's good side).

There are lots of similarities between German and English — some will help you, some will get you in trouble. In this lesson you'll learn about cognates, false friends, and how German is adopting English words and turning them into "Denglisch". 

Don't let the Umlaut Monster get you — discover how to pronounce those Ä, Ö, Ü symbols, as well as that weird ß thing. You'll also learn which letters are pronounced the same as English, and which ones are a bit different. Finally, you'll learn how to pronounce Pfeffer. It's nuts.

In this lesson you'll get a quick introduction to German nouns — that's people, places and things. You'll learn about capitalization rules, noun genders, plural nouns, and all the many splendid ways to say "the". Meanwhile, our hero Jens takes his niece to the park.

Here's your basic German survival kit — German greetings, how to say "yes" and "no", and how to say "please" and "thank you". These are the bare minimum you should know before going anywhere German-speaking! (And they'll help you save Jens from eating a venomous snake.)

In this lesson you'll learn the basic pattern for using most German verbs. You'll be able to go, sing, say and run in German. You'll also learn the incredibly useful verb — haben ("to have"). You can use it to say that you're hungry, thirsty and scared. Hoorah!

"Find my book!" "Open the door!" "Please don't buy that bologna salad..." Learn how to tell someone to do something in German — using both polite language and informal language. (Jens hears lots of these commands when he's sleeping on Oma's couch!)

Jens and his brother clean out Oma's basement, and you'll learn all those German question words — Who? What? When? Where? Why? How? How much? How many? You'll also learn how to form basic yes/no questions in German.

Eavesdrop on Jens as he goes speed dating, and you'll learn how to talk about yourself and your interests. Learn how to say "my name is...", how to say where you come from, and how to talk about the things you like doing. (Jens likes to play cards with Oma.)

Get a crash course in how to compare things in German as you listen to Jens talk about the ladies he met while speed dating. You'll learn comparatives (who was smarter than who?), superlatives (who was the strongest?) and who Jens finally picks to take on a real date!

Follow Jens on a date to a fancy restaurant, and learn how to order food using hätten gern ("would like to have"). You'll learn some useful food vocabulary, and how to say how many hamburgers you want. (It's a bit different to how we do it in English.)

German "cases" show who is doing what to whom in a sentence. In this lesson you'll learn why they're important and how to use the nominative and accusative cases.

One more case before we check back on Jens. In this lesson you'll meet the dative case — used when talking about indirect objects. You'll learn why we call this the lazy dative — the laziest of all the cases.

German numbers are pretty easy, but there are a couple of curve balls to keep you on your toes. In this lesson you'll learn to count from zero to a billion in German, and then you'll help Jens sell some of the junk he found in Oma's basement.

Learn how to sound a bit more natural by throwing some slang and cool interjections into your conversations. Fett! Things also come crashing down for poor Jens — make sure you're there to help him pick up the pieces.